Record and index book



(No Model.)

RGRUBER. REGORD AND INDEX BOOK.

Patented Nov; 14,1898.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

PAUL GRUBER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RECORD AND lNDEX BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 508,699, dated November14, 1893.

Application filed September 21, 1892. Serial No. 446,361. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL GRUBER, of the city of St. Louis and State ofMissouri,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aCombined Record-Book and Index, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to'improvements in a combined record book andindex, and consists in the peculiar arrangement of numerical figuresupon the pages of a book and which in combination with an alphabeticalindex, complete the device more fully hereinafter described and setforth in the claims.

The improvement is designed for the purpose of recording the movement ofrailroad cars, claims, vouchers, tracers, reports, investigation papersand other documents which by reason of their purpose and textnecessitate more or less constant movement at irregular periods betweendifferent points and whose record is kept and identity preserved by themeans of numerals and which always arrive at their temporary destinationin un- -numerical order. It is necessary in the daily routine ofbusiness to refer to any of the above named documents, to determinetheir whereabouts either upon that date or a previous one.

The improvement implies brevity, simplicity, and improved efficiency ofrecord, the

fundamental principle lying in the recording 'ional spaces provided.

Theconstruction and operation of the improved record book will be morefully de scribed in the following specification, but before proceedingtherewith, I will explain the basis upon which I have attained thedesired ends. I first begin by placing the digits from naught to nineand placing a naught in front of each and they would read as follows:-OO 01 O2 03 O4 O5 O6- O7O8-O9 and then continuing the order up to 99,as 10,- 11,-12. Thus itwill be seen that we have one hundred numberswhich if placed into spaces provided for that purpose give a similarnumber of headings under which numbers can be added. The one hundredspaces can be increased ten told by the placing of a inclusive of 099.

naught in front of each of the above named constructions, and whichwould read as follows:

OO8-009010O11O12 and so on up to and This arrangement can be redividedby using the digits in the place 300, &c. The digit arrangement in unitsand tens is also includedin this and reads, -101- 1022l8753 and so onthe arrangement being in numerical order from 0 to 999. The subdivisionof divisional spaces could be continued to as high a number asdesirable, but in my description I will only make mention of onethousand spaces reading from three naughts to 999.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a book constructedafter the method of my invention and shown as open at the alphabeticalindex, and also shows its divisional spacing. Fig. 2 is a plan view ofmy improved record book showing a part of the same broken away, and thebook open at one cessitated thereby and the arrangement of numericalfigures thereon, and a Roman alphabetical index therein, lies the methodof 'my'invention.

2 indicates one of the pages of the book showing the arrangement of theindex thereon.

While I do not wish to confine myself to the arrangement of the pages asherein shown, still for the sake of arriving at a better understandingas to the operation of the book, I believe it necessary to show thepages in operative form.

The alphabetical index pages 2 are preferably located in the front ofthe book and as shown in the drawings, each page has a projecting tab 4upon which the letters are impressed. In the illustrations I have shownthe index page 2 divided into two spaces 5 and 6 which are similarlyruled into columns. In the manufacture of the improved record book itwould depend upon the size of the book as to the numberof index columnssuch as 5 and 6,whicl1 would appear upon a single page. The index spaceis divided as followsz-The first column 7 is for the date, the nextcolumn 8 for the number which the receiving party desires to place uponthe document to be recorded, and the next column 9 for the numberalready appearing upon the document and by means of which its identityis preserved.

Before proceeding farther I had best state that the ruling as hereinshown, is that adapted for the recording of claims for damages, lostfreight, &o., a large numberof which are received each day by arailroad. The fourth column 10 is devoted to the claimants name by meansof which the claims are alphabetically indexed, the first letter in thelast name being used as the basis. The next column 11 records the amountof the claim, while the last column 12 shown is used to trace themovement of the claim when sent to some temporary destination. Thesecolumns are headed respectively, Date, No,

Freight claim, agents No, Claimants, Amount, Movement.

Having described the ruling of the index pages, I will now proceed todetail the spacing of the record pages.

In Fig. 2 the book is shown with the first record page 13 exposed forexamination. Near its upper right hand corner it has a projectingindicating tab 14 upon which three naughts appear upon both of itssides. In the illustrations the record page 13 is shown as having threecomplete and distinct record columns 15, 10 and 17, each of which isdivided into the following columns, in the ar rangement of which I havetried to embody simplicity as wellas completeness. As is well known inthe recording of claims, railroad companies generally arrange the samein series, that is, the claims as received are numbered in numericalorder until the numbers reach a certain limit, say one hundred thousand.The first hundred thousand is called series A and the next lot would becalled series B, and so on. Therefore, I have devoted the first column18 to the registration of the series, the next column 19 to the numher,the third column 20 to the railroad from which the claim is received,and the last column 21 to the disposition of the documents. Thesecolumns are headed respectively Series, No, Railroad, Disposition. Uponthe first line 22 under the heading Na, in column 19 and at the righthand side of said col u mn,are placed three naughts 000. In the nextcolumn and in the same relative position under the same heading, areplaced the numerals 100. The next column is headed 200,and so on through900. After 900 and in the next column is placed 001, then -101, and soon through the digits.

The book as herein shown is divided into ten divisional sections, eachsection having a tab projecting from its first page and each sectionincluding one hundred numbers ranging from and including the numbers-O0O 909. The next section is inclusive of -010- 919, the next sectionO20--929, then throughout the book as follows: O30-939 0409 t9- 050-959-060969 --070979080989 -090-099, each section being as before stated,indicated by tabs such as 14 which read downwardly as follows: O00O10020030O40050 060-070080090-.

In Figs. 1 and 2 under the proper headings, I have filled out the blankspaces and will explain the application and use of the index and record.

In railway offices there is a department, generally known as the claimdepartment, and has persons in charge, whose specific dutyis the careand disposition of the claims as they are received and sent out eachday. WVe will premise that the clerk finds a claim from a certain JohnAllen, the amount of damages of which is thirty-five dollars. If it hasbeen received upon September 16 it is so entered. As each road has itsindividual numbers, for agents, &c., the individual identity ispreserved by means of numerical combinations, the agent forwarding suchclaims indorsing certain numbers upon the papers. Supposing the numberupon said John Allens claim to be 7,000, it is so entered in the column9 upon the index page. Each company also desires to place its individualnumbers upon such documents and this number is entered in column 8. Theamount of the claim thirty-five dollars is entered in column 11 and themovement of the document if forwarded is entered in column 12. Thisstated entry would then read as follows: September 16th, No. 27, (thenumber given by the receiving company) 7,000, (the identificationnumber) John Allen,$35.00, A. T. D., 9/17) the last indicating theinitials of a certain party to whom the document has been sent, and thedate of forwarding). The number of the claim 7,000, is then taken as asa basis for further entry. As the number ends with three naughts, Werefer to the first tab 14 upon which three naughts appear. As threenaughts is the first entry made in the book, consequently we have butlittle trouble in finding the same. As the three naughts already appearupon the page, and as this is the first made upon the same, it is onlynecessary to prefix the numeral 7. If the claims are numbered in serialorder, aserial letter would be placed in the column 18 upon the page 13,and in column 20 under the heading Railroadl will enter the name of theroad from which the claim was received, such as M. K. & T. and in column21 under the heading Disposition I would enter certain initials or namesby means of which the temporary resting place of the document would beknown, such as W. O. S. 9/20. This entry would then read as follower-E,

7 ,000, M. K. '&'T., W. C. S., 9/ 20, which would indicate that theclaim was No. 7,000, series E, was received from the M. K. 86 T. By. andsent to W.O. S., September 20. If the number of the claim were 32,621, Irefer to the tab upon which appear the numerals 020, and other numbersare referred to by the last figures in the combination; for example, ifthe number were simply 8 I wouldturn to the page upon which appearedOO8, and draw a red line through the two naughts, as %%8. 1f the claimwere No. 70, I-would turn to the page upon which appeared the numerals070-,and.draw a red line through the first naught, as %70-.-

At the right hand of Fig. 2 in column 1'71 have shown the combination ofnumerals 200 continued down the page upon every line. This arrangementof the figures, whether with one combination of numerals at the top orthe same continued on every line, is left to the discrimination of themanufacturer and user.

It will be seen from the above described arrangement of numericalcombinations, that the original one hundred divisional spaces followeach other in numerical order every ten spaces, the intervening spacesbeing utilized for the prefixed units, 1234= 678-9 and so on. I can alsoincrease the number of indicating tabs 14: which mark the divisionalspaces, to twenty or more and they would read respectively 00O-005010O15-020025030 035 040 045 050O 060 O OO75080085 090095-. This abovedescribed arrangement would enable the person using the book to find adesired number or entry much quicker than with the tabs '0l0-020, &c.

The advantages of this improved method of recording documents, areapparent and in its efiectiveness, efficiency, and particularly itsadaptation for ready reference, lie its principal features. It greatlyreduces the clerical labor, does away with ordinary indexing, andinvolves much less time for reference to any particular entry,especially. where the volumes are numerous and are necessarily dailyreferred to.

The improved record does not become complex and crowded by numerous andcontinued entries and does not lose its efficiency for ready andabsolute certainty of reference at any time. To give a fair idea of itstime-saving properties, I will give the following example: An averageclaim entry book of the present style is probably adapted for the entryof say twenty-five thousand different documents. A clerk is given anumber, 16,789, and is instructed to find what disposition has been madeof the documents. He refers to the alphabetical index, ascertains thenumber of the document and then startsin to look through the twenty-fivethousand entries for the number he desires. This may be found upon thefirst page in the book,but the probabilities-are that he will find itupon the last page of the book. By actual tests I have found that on anaverage, a desired number may be found within several hundred numbers,this depending of course upon the numbers of entries under a givencombination of numerical figures. To further illustrate this principle,suppose the clerk was called upon to search the record of a railroadfreight car at a certain time in the past, that was entered or recordedin a book containing twentyfive thousand entries of a similar character.Under my system the clerk would first ascertain the number of thedocument from the alphabetical index, then refer to the basis numbersand in a book of twenty-five thousand spaces, this particularcombination of terminal figures would only have fifty divisional spacesfor entries. Thus instead of the clerk having to search through theentire book for the desired information, he would only have to refer tothe fifty entries, in case the record was a complete one.

As before stated, I do not wish to necessarily confine myself to thenumber of record columns upon a single page or the manner of ruling thesame into record columns, the necessities of different lines of businessdetermining the headings and definitions of the columns.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is 1 An improvedrecord book having a numerical index consisting of certain numericalfigures arranged in numerical order, index tabs with the last threenumerals of a greater number imprinted thereon, and an alphabeticalindex consisting of Roman signs alphabetically arranged, substantiallyas set forth.

2. An improved record book having numerals arranged upon its pages inpredetermined order, said numerals consisting in the combinations ofnumerals from 00 to 99 and having prefixed thereto in numerical orderthe digits from naught to nine, inclusive; substantially as set forth.

3. An improved record book divided into sections, the pages of eachsection having thereon a successive series of numerals having the sameterminal numbers, and a projecting tab for each section carrying theterminal numbers of its respective sections; substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PAUL GRUBER.

, Witnesses:

HERBERT S. ROBINSON, ART. D. GREENE.

